Peleg Whitman Chandler was born April 12, 1816, in New
Gloucester, Maine, to Peleg and Esther Parsons Chandler. He attended Bangor
Seminary and Bowdoin College. Upon graduation in 1834, he studied law in his
fatherís office, the office of Theophilus Parsons, and the Harvard Law School.
He was admitted to the bar in 1837. That same year he married Martha Ann Bush.
The couple had four children.

In addition to a successful law practice, Peleg Chandler
contributed to the legal profession through his writings. He was a reporter for
the Daily Advertiser, covering cases in higher courts. He founded the
Law Reporter, the first successful legal magazine in the United States. He
published the popular, two-volume American Criminal Trials in the United
State and London. Chandler was elected to the Boston common council, serving
from 1843 to1845. He served two terms (1844-1846, 1862-1863) in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives. He also served as Bostonís city
solicitor from 1846 to1853 and as U.S. Commissioner of Bankruptcy. He was a
member of the governorís council in 1850 as well as a trustee of Bowdoin
College. The accomplishment that pleased him most was the establishment and
protection of a public garden next to the Boston Common. Peleg Chandler died May
28, 1889, in Boston, Massachusetts.

The collection contains miscellaneous personal, legal, and
political correspondence received by Peleg Chandler from 1845 to1880. The
approximately 200 pieces are arranged alphabetically by correspondentsí
surnames.